Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In a show of breathtaking hypocrisy, we have seen 41 coalition members and senators line up to open Labor's trade training centres. Indeed, they have put out media releases and featured in their local papers—but they came to Canberra and cut our trade training centres. We have a rollcall. We have the members for Barker, Brisbane, Clare, Capricornia, Cowen, Cowper, Dawson, Dunkley, Durack, Farrer, Flinders, Forrest, Gippsland, Grey, Hinkler, Hume, La Trobe, Lyons, Macarthur, Mallee, Mayo, McMillan, Moore, Murray, Parkes, Petrie, Riverina, Wright and Wannon. We also have Senators Ryan, Ronaldson, Seselja, Sinodinos, Williams, O'Sullivan, Mason, McKenzie, Fierravanti-Wells, Macdonald and Payne. These are the members many of whom have attended more than one—the member for Grey attended five openings of trade training centres. The member for Durack attended three and the member for Cowper attended four.

These trade training centres have been an important part of our local community and the members, while they have been willing to turn up and cut the ribbon, have failed their local communities by not supporting further trades training centres. It is time that those members stopped just cutting ribbons and stuck up for their local communities and funded trade training centres in the future. (Time expired)